While the main focus of this blog is traveling with toddlers, because I’ve had so many friends have babies this year, and there are a few pregnancies (mine included!) in the office, I wanted to share some of my favorite things for traveling with baby. The nice thing is, a lot of these “must haves” are also able to be used for your toddler too.
We took Kerry on her first flight at 8 weeks old – honestly one of the hardest parts of this was making sure I was organised enough to apply for a passport as soon as she was born. Once that was done and it had arrived, we were ready to hit the ground running. Travel with newborns is truly a mind over matter thing. Babies really don’t require a lot in terms of entertainment, and are very adaptable (no need to worry about jet lag when they are only sleeping in 4 hour stints to begin with!). The below suggestions were taken from an email I sent to my friend who was looking for advice about what she should bring on a trip to Portugal with her 10 week old son.
In terms of gear/stuff to travel with:
1) Baby Bjorn One is the carrier we use the majority of the time, because it fits both my husband and myself. It is very sporty looking, and is mesh, not cotton, so in warm temperatures if you sweat it doesn’t get gross like a cotton one might. Plus, very easy to clean. Yes, it is not cheap, but definitely worth it, and often on sale at baby shows (we got ours 25% off)
Matt and our monkey, rocking the Baby Bjorn
I’ve always been on the fence about bringing a stroller when travelling with really young babies who are under 3 months old. Our first two trips we didn’t bring a stroller, we relied entirely on the Baby Bjorn, and it was fine. In fact, on a trip to Wales the stroller ended up taking up space in our hotel room the whole time, it always seemed like too much of a hassle to take it out or find space for it. We only used it to walk to/from the train station to our hotel (which was about a 10 minute walk – easily done in a carrier!).
2) If you are renting a car you will need a carseat – we bought a car seat that doesn’t have a base so we can fit it into any car, just make sure that yours is detachable. An American or UK carseat technically won’t fit EU standards, so something to be aware of when you are taking yours – but double check with your car rental that they will provide one. Car seats are also great for when you go to restaurants.
3) Boppy Newborn Lounger – This is, without a doubt, one of the best gifts I got when I was pregnant. I’m sure you are familiar with Boppy as a breast feeding support pillow, but the lounger is really the best product they make, in my opinion. It is really big, and we travel with it, but is so nice to have a spot to put the baby when we were hanging out in the hotel room or by the pool. In Italy we would take it with us out to dinner and put it on the floor or on a chair or bench and she would just hang out there. This is something that we continued to use for months to come.
Chilling on the Boppy Lounger
4) Skip Hop changing Pad Again, one item you will see come up again and again in my travel gear list is this Skip Hop Item! You will see it comes with a little red case, that case is the PERFECT size for flight tickets and passports, and because it is bright red it is easy to find in a bag.
5) At ten weeks they aren’t really into toys yet, so you may want to bring one small stuffed animal. Swiss air actually provides little plush airplanes (we named ours Heidi!) which I think is a lovely touch for children.
Before Willow this penguin traveled everywhere with us!
Even though I was mostly breastfeeding when my daughter was 8 months old, I always brought pre-mixed formula which was really helpful for the times the flight is delayed and you don’t want to be breastfeeding in public. Also bring a ton of diapers, like one for every hour you are traveling and an extra 5. Nothing was worse than when we spent 6 hours delayed at the Lisbon airport and I spent €18 on a package of diapers. And bring 2 extra sets of clothes for changing those diaper blowouts that will inevitably happen right before you are called to board the plane! And an extra set of clothes for yourself too!
Usually, I pack a bag for Kerry, and a separate carry on bag for me, I have her in the Baby Bjorn, and I check the car seat (most planes will only let you use the car seat in the plane if you buy a ticket for the child).
Also I was thinking about stuff I bought that I thought I would use but didn’t… I always overpacked blankets and swaddles, but you can never have too many of them!
Last time I traveled with an under 6 month old was in 2017 so would love to hear what new things you are loving that I should bring along to Sardinia which we will be returning to after the birth of our second child (who will be about 8 weeks old)
